30 Facts About Jack Nicholson Fans Should Know; One Of This Generation’s Most Prominent American Motion-Picture Actor

Jack Nicholson, born John Joseph Nicholson, dubbed “Mulholland Man Nick,” who is well noted for his versatile acting career, is deemed to be one of this generation’s most prominent American motion-picture actor and a well established director, screenwriter cum producer.

1. Nicholson was born 50 miles away from his home town Neptune, N.J., on the Jersey Shore, because his family wanted the circumstances surrounding his birth to be a secret.
2. He grew up believing his maternal grandmother and grandfather, John and Ethel May Nicholson, to be his parents and his mother, June Frances Nicholson, as his elder sister.
3. He discovered the truth about his birth parents in 1974, long after the death of both his grandmother and his mother, via a Time’s magazine journalist who researched him for a cover story.
4. There were speculations regarding his birth father, Italian-American musician Donald Furcillo or his mother’s then manager Latvian-born Edgar A. Kirschfeld (Eddie King). Till date he does not know who his biological father is. He did not want to take up any paternity test.
5. In his earlier days, he had worked odd jobs in a race track and even as a lifeguard in Jersey Shore. His first stint in tinsel world was as a messenger boy in the Department of Animation in the MGM Studios.
6. He had impressed the Tom & Jerry animators Joseph Barbera and William Hanna with his impressive sketching skills and was offered to join the animation team but he refused quoting his interest to pursue acting.
7. Nicholson had also impressed Joe Pasternak, a producer with the MGM Studios, who aided him to land a spot in the famed Jeff Corey's acting classes and a “The Players Ring” theater apprenticeship.
8. He went to the Manasquan High School in Manasquan, NJ. He was voted as “Class Clown” by class of 1954. The school has a Drama and Theatre award named in his honor. Much to the delight and surprise of his friends and classmates, he attended his 50th year high school reunion in the year 2004.
9. He had been boy hood friends with the fellow actor/director Danny De Vito. Both have worked together in few films.
10. Louis B. Mayer, the co-founder of the MGM Studios, commended him after his first screen test stating, "I don't know what we can use you for but if we ever do need you, we'll need you real bad."
    
11. His film career kicked off with a low budget teen crime drama, The Cry Baby Killer, as the lead actor, at the age of 21.
12. Nicholson mostly acted in low budget horror flicks all around the 1960s. His portrayal of the masochistic dental patient, Wilbur Force, was mention worthy.
13. His triangular eyebrows coupled with his somewhat maniacal laughter or a shark like grin facilitated his successful characterization of an "eternal outsider, the sardonic drifter, someone who rebels against the social structure” in different genres like psychological thrillers, romance, dark satirical comedy etc.
14. Most of his onscreen roles have been of a person with mental instability or with a streak of psychopathic issues.
15. He refuses to appear in any television interviews and does only press conferences.
16. He is rarely seen in public without his signature sunglasses. These glasses are fitted with prescriptive lenses for his shortsightedness. He considers his trademark sunglasses as a part of his armor and states facetiously that “With my sunglasses on, I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them, I'm fat and seventy.”
17. He is the only actor who has played a werewolf, a devil and the infamous super villain the Joker.
18. He once commented that the Joker is the depiction of Bugs Bunny’s psychotic version.
19. Nicholson is one of the actors with 3 academy awards and 12 academy award nominations.
20. He is one of the few actors to have received the academy award for the best supporting actor (Terms of Endearment, 1984) after receiving the award for best actor (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1976).
    
21. He is the only actor who has received Oscar awards for the best lead actor male along with his female co-stars who had also received the best lead actor female awards, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) with Louise Fletcher and As Good as It Gets (1997) with Helen Hunt.
22. Nicholson shaved his head to play a terminal cancer patient for his role in the movie The Bucket List.
23. He was nicknamed “The Great Seducer” by the Rolling Stone magazine.
24. As a tribute to his nickname, he has had many affairs and romantic link ups. His longest relationship was for 17 years with an actress Anjelica Huston.
25. He married only once and that too was for a very short period, Sandra Knight (1962-1968).
26. He became a father for the first time when he was 26. Jack now is survived by 9 children and 2 grandchildren.
27. He does not have cellphone. He also states that he doesn’t like giving advice to anyone as they are not going to take it.
28. Nicholson is one of the youngest actors to have received the Life Achievement Award awarded by the American Film Institute.
29. For the past 5 decades he has continuously been nominated for the acting Oscars (1960s-2000s).
30. It is heavily speculated that the 79-year-old iconic legendary lothario will make his comeback to the silver screen with the English remake of the German movie Toni Erdmann, nominated for the best foreign language in 2017 Oscars.